Technology news and briefs for the week of June 12, 2022:
Fleetcor to acquire UK-based payments provider
Business payments company Fleetcor Technologies Inc. is set to increase scale with the close of an acquisition in the fourth quarter of this year.
The company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire UK-based cross-border payments provider Global Reach Group, which serves thousands of customers of all sizes – primarily in the UK and Canada – by facilitating international payments. Financial details were not disclosed.
“Global Reach is a fantastic addition to our existing cross-border business that can be quickly integrated into our global business,” said Ron Clarke, chairman and CEO of Fleetcor. “We anticipate the deal to be immediately accretive post-close with additional synergies to layer in during year two.”
The acquisition provides an overlapping footprint to Fleetcor’s current cross-border payments business.
Jones Day served as legal counsel to Fleetcor, and Eversheds Sutherland provided legal counsel to Global Reach. Canaccord Genuity provided strategic and financial advice to Global Reach.
Velociti builds new, larger warehouse
Tech company Velociti Inc. has relocated to a larger space to accommodate rapidly increasing technology adoption, among other things.
The new 65,000-square-foot warehouse, located less than a mile from company headquarters, is double the size of its original warehouse, which will now serve as an expansion to its innovation lab and customer experience center. The new warehouse also offers double the door capacity with 12 doors, has higher ceilings for increased racking capabilities and provides the space needed for optimal product flow.
The facility also features new wireless technology and management systems to maximize efficiency and visibility into day-to-day operations and includes additional sustainability and safety features.
Many companies are working to improve efficiencies due to supply chain issues, which is another reason Velociti chose to expand.
“The current uncertainty within the supply chain is causing companies to proactively purchase and store more inventory than they have in the past,” said Ryan Powell, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Velociti. “With this significant expansion, Velociti is well-positioned to meet our customers’ needs now and grow with them into the future.”
The company said the new facility was also needed to manage the strong demand for its VeloCare health monitoring and repair service.
The VeloCare program combines technology health monitoring, field repair services, a tech support call center and inventory management services to maximize uptime of technology solutions in any environment. VeloCare currently manages more than 600,000 assets, including electronic logging devices, vehicle telematic systems, in-cab video safety solutions, restaurant POS systems, Wi-Fi and RFID solutions.
C.H. Robinson sees increase in digital quotes over the year
Global logistics company C.H. Robinson delivered nearly 2.7 million digital quotes in the last year, saving shippers 65% in spot transportation costs via its digital B2B supply chain connectivity with more than 35 transportation management systems and enterprise resource planning platforms and hundreds of customer routing guides.
These integrations offer access to automated freight bids, guaranteed capacity, and benchmarking and analysis to reveal competitive market rates in real time that can be booked directly within whatever native platform the shipper is using for managing transportation.
In Q1 2022, two-thirds of C.H. Robinson’s spot business was priced through its dynamic pricing engine, delivering real-time rates and capacity assurance. The company delivered one million quotes in the first quarter of 2022 alone – a 54% increase over the first quarter of 2021.
Those connected to C.H. Robinson’s dynamic pricing engine are provided instant rates on spot loads, eliminating manual work and saving individual customers thousands of hours a month.
Those with route guide integration in their existing TMS saw up to 65% savings on transportation costs, with an average of 10% to 20% savings, compared to those quoting and booking without a route guide integration. Those with route guide integration were also 75% less likely to be penalized with spot rate premiums when compared to quoting through the traditional spot market.
CLI adds features to TMS in new version
Carrier Logistics Inc. has released a new version of its LTL transportation management system.
CLI has applied artificial intelligence and analytics technologies to further automate and optimize its FACTS system. Key features and new functionality designed for Version 12 of FACTS include a P&D optimization model to dynamically route deliveries and real time pick-up rerouting suggestions; AR risk evaluation using AI and analytics for generating an exact current risk measurement for each account; proactive and automated appointment scheduling for last-mile residential deliveries; historical transactions that include notifications via text or email to customers; automated fuel cost updates and fuel surcharge pricing integration; translation solutions to send messages in Spanish and overcome language barriers between dock workers and supervisors as more workflow is driven by digital communication; and an extended LOC-AI for freight pickup operations that adds the ability to include detailed information on addresses for each shipment. This capability, first introduced last year for delivery locations, is fully integrated into FACTS shipment entry and rating modules.
“Those features will help solve immediate tactical problems and address long term issues, resulting in improved productivity, less management time and lower costs,” said CLI President Ben Wiesen.
Another recent part of CLI’s focus on automation is its new yard management system for maintaining full visibility of each trailer at terminals, dispatching trailer switches to yard personnel and tracking dock door and yard slot locations. The stand-alone module, which can be integrated with FACTS as well as coupled with CLI’s dock management system and dock management board, gives LTL carriers an organized method to coordinating cross dock activity with required yard moves.
Garmin introduces two new headsets
Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd., has released new wireless headsets.
The new dēzl Headset 100/200 Series provides clear audio and active noise cancelation technology – fused in the adjustable boom mic and ear cups – to enhance phone calls and streaming media.
The design of the dēzl Headset 200 allows it to be converted from a single-ear headset to full stereo headphones with up to 50 hours of continuous Bluetooth talk time.
The headsets feature memory foam-padded ear cushions and adjustable boom mic; corrosion-resistant construction; built-in Bluetooth that allows for easy pairing with a compatible smartphone for hands-free calls; and an included storage hook that allows the headset to be stored in the cab.
The headsets also integrate with Garmin’s dēzl OTR navigators, giving drivers hands-free control and navigation prompts into the headset’s audio stream. Drivers can also speak commands into the boom mic to control dēzl OTR navigators.
The dēzl Headset 100 has a suggested retail price of $299.99, and the dēzl Headset 200 has a suggested retail price of $399.99.
